Missouri House adopts broad anti‑trafficking bill strengthening grooming, sextortion provisions
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Summary
The Missouri House adopted a committee substitute combining multiple bills to expand definitions, create an attorney general‑housed anti‑trafficking council, fund statewide training and raise certain penalties; sponsors said the measure changes statutory language across dozens of sections to clarify crimes against minors.
The House on Feb. 3 adopted a committee substitute that combines several bills aimed at strengthening Missouri’s ability to prosecute trafficking, sextortion and grooming offenses.
The gentleman from Randolph, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the measure is "not a small or simple bill. It is an important bill," and described a package of changes that includes renaming statutory references to what the sponsor called "child sexual abuse material" throughout roughly 76 pages of code and creating a statewide council housed in the attorney general’s office.
Supporters said the substitute will fund an executive director position already included in the budget, provide remote and skills‑based training for listed professions, and clarify penalty and procedural provisions. "It creates the attorney general's statewide counsel against adult trafficking and commercial exploitation of children," the sponsor said, and noted a civil statute‑of‑limitations change "moving it up from 10 years to 20 years for the civil offense of trafficking so that they can ... be made whole." The sponsor also said some offenses will be "stackable" so prior convictions can affect sentencing.
Backers from both sides of the chamber highlighted three principal strands: training to help first responders and service providers identify trafficking; increased criminal accountability for buyers of commercial sexual services; and relief for victims, including mechanisms for expungement when convictions resulted from trafficking circumstances. The gentleman from Warren, who helped craft training provisions, cited pilot work by the Missouri Child Abuse Network in several child advocacy centers and said, "After that training, they now represent 60%." He urged colleagues to support the measure so trained professionals can "take action."
The package also adds sections addressing sextortion and grooming that sponsors referenced by name in committee and on the floor (sponsors referred to "Evan's voice" and to provisions they called "Sophie and Evie's law" for grooming of minors). The gentleman from Stone said sextortion can drive victims to self‑harm and that the bill "gives it more teeth" to hold perpetrators accountable.
The bill passed by voice vote after discussion and was ordered perfected and printed. The motion to adopt the House committee substitute for HB 2273 et al was made from the floor by the gentleman from Randolph and carried by the House with the chair announcing, "The ayes have it."
What happens next: The adopted committee substitute will proceed through the chamber’s perfection and printing steps; sponsors indicated some provisions were vetted in committee and that the measure has been refined over multiple sessions.
Sources and provenance: The article is based on floor remarks and debate recorded during presentation and discussion of the House committee substitute for HB 2273 et al (topic introduction at SEG 379; final adoption announced at SEG 1076).